John Zundel biography

Greetings forum:

I don't know where to send this, so I'll start here.

I am the Archivist and Historiographer of the Episcopal Diocese of New Jersey, a former organist and in change of a small parish in Southern NJ. I was looking for information on the composer of the tune Beecher and there wasn't very much in the Hymnary bio. So I did some searching and found a more complete write-up on John Zundel from Appleton's Cyclopedia of American Biography (cited below). The last line on his tunes I extrapolated from the listing here on Hymnary. 

ZUNDEL, John, musician, b. in Hochdorf, near Stuttgart, Germany, in 1815; d. in Cannstadt, Germany, in July, 1882. He studied at the Royal academy of Esslingen, Germany, during 1829-31, and began the study of the violin, but relinquished that instrument for the organ. In 1840 he went to St. Petersburg, and in 1847 came to the United States. He held various posts as organist, notably in Plymouth church, Brooklyn, where he was almost uninterruptedly from 1850 till 1865. In 1865 he went to Europe, remaining two years. After his return he resumed his duties at Plymouth church, but in 1878 went again to Europe. He composed a large number of pieces for the organ, as well as some sacred and vocal music, and published " Modern Organ-School " (Boston, 1860) : "The Amateur Organist" (1854); a "Treatise on Harmony and Modulation" and other books.

His most commonly used tunes are LEBANON (I Was a Wandering Sheep) and BEECHER (Love Divine, All Loves Excelling).

Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography 1889, volume 6, 664-665.